Champions Day at Churchill Downs To Celebrate Legendary Jockeys and Trainers on Tuesday of Derby Week

Mar 15, 2018 Sara Brown Meehan

Features Derby-Winning
Jockeys Pat Day and Gary Stevens and Trainers D. Wayne Lukas and Carl Nafzger;
Benefits Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance

LOUISVILLE, KY (Thursday, March 15,
2018)
– Churchill Downs
today announced Champions Day presented by Twinspires.com, a new Derby Week
event that will take place at the racetrack on Tuesday, May 1, 2018. Champions
Day will delight Kentucky Derby fans by celebrating the greatest moments in the
sport’s history and honoring its legendary jockeys and trainers. Gates open at
11:00 a.m., first post at 12:45 p.m. Tickets start at $10 at
www.KentuckyDerbyWeek.com.

In
addition to a full day of live Thoroughbred races, this must-see event for any
racing fan will offer guests the opportunity to meet famed Derby and
Oaks-winning jockeys and trainers. These horse racing legends will be in the
Plaza and Paddock from 12:30 p.m. -- 2:30 p.m. Guests can purchase a collectible
poster for the jockeys and trainers to sign. Proceeds from the poster sales
will benefit the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.

Featured
jockeys include Pat Day, winner of the Kentucky Oaks in 1988 and 2000 and the
Kentucky Derby in 1992; Gary Stevens, winner of the Kentucky Oaks in 1986 and
1999 and the Kentucky Derby in 1988, 1995, and 1997; and Craig Perret who won the
1990 Kentucky Derby. Hall of Famers D. Wayne Lukas, a four-time Kentucky Derby
winner in 1988, 1995, 1996 and 1999, and Carl Nafzger, who trained the 1990 and
2007 Kentucky Derby winners, will be two of several featured trainers.

Champions
Day guests are invited to learn from the best in the business at the Advanced
Insider Handicapping Seminar presented by Twinspires.com in the Aristides
Lounge from 12:00 p.m. – 12:40 p.m. “At the Races” host Steve Byk and clocker
and bloodstock agent, Gary Young, will share their expertise on Derby Week
handicapping. Two of the most respected handicappers in the game, Byk’s “At the
Races” is Thoroughbred racing’s longest running and best known daily radio news
magazine, while horses recommended by Young have accounted for three Breeders
Cup and 17 Grade I races.

Derby
history enthusiasts will especially enjoy the Big Board on Champions Day as it
brings Kentucky Derby history to life. The Kentucky Derby Museum and Churchill
Downs have curated captivating oral history, fascinating trivia and archived
footage of the sport’s most sensational moments to share throughout the day.

Fans who
want to take advantage of everything that Champions Day and Tuesday of Derby
Week have to offer can purchase the “Ultimate Champions Experience.” This $250
special ticket package includes:

• “Inside The Vault” tour at
  the Kentucky Derby Museum with its curators to visit rare racing artifacts not currently on display to
  the public
• A seat in the Stakes
  Room Veranda during Champions Day
• An exclusive meet and greet
  with legendary jockeys and trainers·
• All day access to the
  Kentucky Derby Museum

The First
20 guests to purchase Ultimate Champions Experience tickets will receive one
admission pass to the Derby Post Draw at 11:00 a.m. on Champions Day.
www.KentuckyDerbyWeek.com.

About Churchill Downs Racetrack

Churchill Downs, the world’s most legendary
racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America’s greatest
race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the
flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ: CHDN) offers
year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will
conduct the 144
^th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by
Woodford Reserve on May 5, 2018. The track’s 2018 Spring Meet is scheduled for
April 28 – June 30. An eight-time host to the Breeders’ Cup World
Championships, Churchill Downs will again be the site of that event on Nov.
2-3, 2018.
www.ChurchillDowns.com.

About the
Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance

Based in Lexington, Ky., the Thoroughbred
Aftercare Alliance is a nonprofit organization that accredits, inspects, and
awards grants to approved
aftercare organizations to retire, retrain, and rehome Thoroughbreds using
industry-wide funding. Along with continued funding from its original partners
Breeders’ Cup, The Jockey Club, and Keeneland Association, the TAA is supported
by owners, trainers, breeders, racetracks, aftercare professionals, and other
industry members. To date, 64 aftercare organizations supporting approximately
170 facilities across North America have been granted accreditation and
received funding from the TAA. To learn more about the TAA, visit
thoroughbredaftercare.org.